Upgrading ESXi 4 to Update 1 – Host Update Utility

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Now that we’ve upgraded our client and installed it on Windows 7, let’s upgrade our ESX or ESXi host:

1. Fire up Host Update Utility & Download new Patches from VMware:

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2. Scan for updates:

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3. OMG Patches! Lets Patch the host (Make sure the host is in maint mode first!):

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4. Install FTW!

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5. Now comes the progress bars! (It’s applying the patches):

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6. And done!

Questions? Drop a line in the comments.

14 thoughts on “Upgrading ESXi 4 to Update 1 – Host Update Utility”

  • Thanks. After you showed how easy this was, I upgraded my ESXi build… but after it reboots, the header shows 4.0.0,219382 – I thought it would show 4.0.1.

  • What if it fails connecting to the patches repository with the message “An error has occurred. Download failed.”?? Thank you.

  • there is no “4.0.1”. this is 4.0 update 1. it's the vmware equivalent of a service pack, thus only the build number changes.

  • How do you upgrade the free version of ESXi 4.0 to Update 1? It appears as though the vSphere Host Update Utility is available to paying customers only. There are no features in the vSphere Client to facilitate the upgrade.

    Is the only option to upgrade the free version to use the installable ISO and start over? I would prefer to not have to rebuild my whole network.

    Do you any suggestions?

  • Rob,

    My example was preformed against the free version of ESXi 4.0. When installing the vSphere client, one of the selectable options is to install the Host Update Utility. Are you having any specific errors, or just unable to find the utility?

  • I have the same problem with VHUU to upgrade my free ESXi installation from 4.0 to 4.0 Update 1.

    I obtain “An error has occured. Download failed”. I haven't a proxy. My connection to Internet is direct. Any idea about it?

    I don't find anything about it?

    Thanks in advance.

  • Hi,

    After I posted my question, I kept looking around for awhile and
    eventually I found the utility. Once I installed it, the rest of the
    operation was a piece of cake. The hardest part for me was to find the
    utility.

    Thanks a lot for taking the time to respond!

    Rob

  • This is what the output should look like :

    Start installing patches
    Installing patches on 192.168.0.15 : ESXi400-201006201-UG, ESXi400-201006202-UG, ESXi400-201006203-UG, ESXi400-Update02
    Trying to put the host into maintenance mode
    Entered maintenance mode successfully
    Start uploading files to host
    Metadata and binaries have been successfully uploaded
    Start rebooting host 192.168.0.15
    Start rebooting host
    Host reboot started successfully, Please make sure the host is successfully booted
    Reboot host succeeded 192.168.0.15
    Installing patches succeeded on host 192.168.0.15
    Installation of patches succeeded

    Patching has succeeded.

    The host will be rebooted….

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